A Summer Guide to the Lakes of the White Mountains

THE WHITE MOUNTAINS

In late winter, some of us used to roam this country by means of a little treaded vehicle in order to poke holes in the snow. By measuring and weighing icy cores, we determined the depth and moisture content of the snowpack so that hydrologists in Phoenix could forecast the amount of spring melt.

Our bone-chilling scientific sorties to the sampling stations traversed an extraordinary landform. The White Mountains of eastern central Arizona are not tall, but they are high. Generally the peaks rise only a few thousand feet, but their roots repose upon undulating ground about a mile and a half above sea level. Thus Mount Baldy topping out at 11,590 feet in elevation is the highest of the White Mountains (and second-highest in all Arizona). Yet it makes but a gentle hump that humans and horses can conquer in a morning.

All of which goes to explain the region's most important natural product: water. Summer's steamy vapors and winter's gloomy scuds are intercepted by these hulking, big-fisted uplands and wrung like sponges. Trickles and torrents flow down the flanks and gather in several dozen sizable catchments, and the part of the surplus that races off north by west eventually runs through the Grand Canyon, and some go as far as the Sea of Cortes. Another universe of raindrops and snowflakes descends the southern route via the Salt and Gila rivers. On both watersheds, civilization intervenes all along the way. The waters are worked nearly to death - nurturing communities, generating power, irrigating fields. And that is why long ago some of us began venturing in a homemade snow cat across the tops of fences and along the eaves of shuttered cabins and beyond the last road sign to calculate the moisture that people desperately needed down below come spring.

But that was then and now is now. For this journey there is no snow, only the rills and puddles left behind for summer play.

About 30 lakes and a dozen fishable streams decorate a square roughly 40 by 50 miles. All the lakes are artificial, that is, dammed by human hand, some since the first pioneers pushed over from Santa Fe and down from Utah 12 decades ago. Persecuted Mormons, New Mexican Catholic herders, and opportunistic California and Texas Americans belatedly filling in the southern Rockies settled the White Mountains in the 1870s and '80s. The transcontinental railroad almost overnight civilized brief frontier unruliness here and there, and in the end, the White Mountain Apaches provided the scouts who helped the U.S. Army bring in their kinsman Geronimo for good.

Among the first projects of farmers and ranchers were the damming of streams and impounding of meadow snowmelt. So some of today's White Mountain lakes go back a century or more. In size they range from 1,400-acre Lyman Lake to piddling little ponds not much more than cattle tanks. A few are privately owned, but most are on public national forest lands, or within the sprawling Fort Apache Indian Reservation.

From a couple's summery week of gravita-tin' around God's Country, here's a sampler:

LYMAN LAKE AND CONCHO LAKE

From an angler's point of view, the only thing wrong with Lyman is the water-skiers, who appreciate the lake's size (1,400 acres when full) and accommodating regulations. But skiers are people, too. From June to October, plenty of points and coves offer a veritable fish market: largemouth bass, rainbow trout, channel catfish, and bluegill. Nine miles south of St. Johns, the county seat, on U.S. Route 180, Lyman has boat rentals, a small store, an excellent state park launch ramp, and a campground.

Concho, near its namesake town on State Route 61, is 50-100 acres (depending upon the season) of rainbow and brook trout heaven. Five-pounders rise to flies. Bass, bluegill, and cutthroat also can be caught here.

BECKER LAKE

Purists adore Becker, operated as a trophy trout fishery. Averaging 85 acres, it is managed to provide a top quality experience for anglers who fish more for the sport than the frying pan. There's a year-round two-trout limit; and from October 1 to May 25, only artificial lures and flies are allowed. With a launch ramp and rest rooms, but no overnight facilities, Becker is two miles northwest of Springerville off State Route 60.

Here's the place to take a beginner. Beside U.S. Route 191 a few miles south of Springerville, 60-acre Nelson is mostly a put-and-take, bait-from-shore, pansizerainbow deal. Private boats can be launched. Of the several other ponds in this area, the oddest is Mexican Hay Lake which in dry years grows grass.

LUNA LAKE

Just east of town on U.S. Route 180, Luna has prospered with the arrival of a state-sponsored weed-cutting machine. Flyrodders and lure-trollers take rainbow and brook trout from shore and small-motor boats. Ample facilities include a little store. Small but prolific ponds named Hulsey and Sierra Blanca, north and west of town respectively, fill out the catchment fisheries. Fishers who prefer streams may choose among the East Fork of Black River, Campbell Blue Creek, and tributaries of the San Francisco River.

Around and south from the village of Greer:

GREER LAKES

If Arizona has a fly-fishing capital, it's Greer and its environs. There's even a flyfishing school at historic Greer Lodge (see Arizona Highways, August '94). Nearby lakes named River, Tunnel, and Bunch beckon, stocked mostly with hatchery rainbows. River Reservoir in good years gives up browns in the three-to-six-pound range and occasionally a lunker like the 14pounder that held the state record for a while. Fishing streams in the Greer area are tributaries of the Little Colorado.

LEE VALLEY LAKE

Of the puddles outlying from Greer, too numerous to mention here, three are noteworthy. An angler may be skunked at Lee Valley but always rewarded with beauty. Its 35 turquoise acres huddle amid aspen and spruce under a shoulder of Mount Baldy. Fishing for brookies and grayling is restricted to flies and lures, and there's a limit of two trout, with only one grayling Apache, or brook. There's a boat launch but not much else in the way of facilities. Nearby, almost loved to death yet reborn every spring, is legendary Sheeps Crossing on the West Fork of the Little Colorado.

BIG LAKE

According to outdoor writer Bob Hirsch, more trout are taken from 450-acre Big Lake than from any other in the state: 150,000 rainbows and brookies are hooked from an annual stock of 400,000. About 40 miles southeast of Pinetop via State routes 260 Mike Morganthaler of Phoenix fly fishes on trout-rich Big Lake, where anglers try everything from bamboo poles to trolling from boats. RANDY A. PRENTICE and 273, Big Lake has amenities galore. As for fishing, just about anything goes: casting from shore, trolling from boat, kids with bamboo poles, every kind of lure, rig, and bait including deli leftovers.

CRESCENT LAKE

Just north of Big Lake, Crescent when full forms 100 shallow surface acres and attracts a variety of outdoor types. Fly-fishers try to get away from it all at the upper end of the lake where weeds discourage the bait people. Of streams in the area, favorites are the East and West forks of Black River and, lower down, Black River itself. It's catch and release only on the West Fork of Black River from the confluence of Hayground Creek upstream to the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, including tributaries Burro, Thompson, Stinky, and Hayground creeks.

THE WHITE MOUNTAINS THE FORT APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION

Prime freshwater fishing is concentrated in the easternmost one-third of an Indian reservation larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Where fingers of the East Fork of the White River rise under the west side of Mount Baldy, stream and lake anglers find hundreds of miles of chuckling brooks and teeming impoundments. Most Apache lakes have modern facilities and fee campgrounds. The daily limit on the reservation is 10 trout, except where other restrictions apply.

Here are but a few favorite fishin' holes: BIG BEAR, LITTLE BEAR, AND BOG TANK Along Bog Creek, just off State Route 260 east of Pinetop, a string of lakes behind earthen dams range from 12 to 18 acres. In warmer months, they are stocked with pan-size rainbows. During spring and autumn, sometimes fly-fishing is to die for at Bog Tank. Enhanced by facilities including a resort, Sunrise covers 800 acres when full. It's a regular fish factory. Fishing patterns are typical of high-country lakes: the bait-casters preferring the deeper, uncluttered portions; fly types seeking strikes in the weedy shallows.

SUNRISE LAKE CHRISTMAS TREE LAKE

Something of an angling mecca, this lake nurtures a species of trout, Oncorhynchus apache, found nowhere else in the world. Rescued from the brink of extinction, Apache trout are managed for long-term survival by Apache Game and Fish Department biologists. At Christmas Tree, off Reservation Route 26, at the confluence of Sun and Moon creeks, the number of fishermen and allowable catch are closely monitored.

Fishing is restricted to barbless, single-hook flies and lures, and the limit is nine brown trout and one Apache (16 inches plus).

No matter where you land in White Mountains country, you'll be convinced the lunatic gypsies had it right all along. Travel Guide: For more about out-of-the way attractions, we recommend Arizona Highways' Travel Arizona: The Back Roads ($10.95 plus shipping and handling). To order, call toll-free (800) 543-5432; in the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., (602) 258-1000.

WHEN YOU GO

State Route 260 is the east-west transportation backbone of the White Mountains. Other major highways tie in: U.S. Route 60 from the northeast and southwest and State Route 77 and U.S. Route 18 from the north. The Coronado Trail (U.S. Route 191) cuts through the heart of God's Country.

Because tourism is the area's leading economic engine along with cattle ranching and lumbering, the communities of the White Mountains offer splendid accommodations. Near the intersection of State Route 260 and U.S. 60 sits Show Low, the western gateway. The roads split for 40 miles, then rejoin at Springerville, the eastern portal. Between, places to stay include Pinetop-Lakeside, the Apache lodges of Hon Dah and Sunrise, and rustic hostels at Greer, Alpine, and Hannagan.

Fishing legally on the Fort Apache reservation requires a tribal license (but no Arizona license). A variety of licenses is offered, from a day to a year. A reservation license is not good on other public lands, notably national forests, where the Arizona Game and FishDepartment manages fish and wildlife. State licenses come in a similar schedule of terms and fees. Permits are routinely available at retail stores and concessions throughout the White Mountains.

Even lifelong visitors forget to take cool weather gear and clothing. Rainfall at 7,000 feet averages 15 inches a year, and summer nights can call for multilayers of blankets.

For information about fly-fishing schools, write or call Greer Lodge, Box 244, Greer, AZ 85927; (520) 735-7216.

Other helpful contacts: Pinetop-Lakeside Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 266, Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ 85935; (520) 367-4290. White Mountain Apache Enterprise, P.O. Box 26, Whiteriver, AZ 85941; (520) 338-4417. Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 W. Greenway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85023; (602) 942-3000.

EVENT OF THE MONTH Eagar Daze: When They March to the Beat of a Different Era

A sunny T-shirt-and-base-ball-cap day in August. Descendants of Eagar's pioneer families march down Main Street in sunbonnets and calico dresses, overalls and work boots, remembering the struggles of their ancestors in this peaceful valley.

Often misspelled, the town's name honors the Eagar brothers, William, Joel, and John, who arrived from Utah in 1879 to help colonize the Little Colorado River valley for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The pace of horse-drawn wagons lures me in, carries me along with history and tradition to a different time, a time when neighbors knew and helped one another. Here in Eagar, Arizona, they still do.

It's a John Wayne sort of town, and you won't be surprised to discover "the Duke" ranched here in the foothills of the White Mountains.

The events of the celebration start with a bluegrass jam session and free ice cream social at Ramsey Park. For thrill seekers, there is a hotly contended volleyball tournament. If that sounds like too much excitement, try an age-50-and-over softball tournament. And if that is still a bit too stressful, you can watch a slow-paced horseshoe tournament.

By 9 A.M. tourists are piling in from New Mexico, from neighboring Springerville, from Pinetop-Lakeside and Show Low across the mountain, and from Arizona's metropolises. A man from Phoenix says, "You can drive four or five hours and go from the 1990s back to the 1950s. It's great."

At the classic car show on Main Street in front of the festival grounds, I recall the days of joyriding in a luxurious gasguzzler. I admire, but don't touch, the chrome and flawless paint jobs on the nostalgic array. It is like coming across an old friend in a crowd when I see a 1965 Ford Galaxie just like the one we put 150,000 hard miles on when the kids were growing up.

The come-on aroma of barbecued beef, beans, corn on the cob, and fry bread leads me into the festival grounds. Here, among the craft booths, are gifts for everyone.

When I tire of browsing, I rest in the shade of the tall cot-tonwoods at the bandstand. Talented local groups keep me entertained with clogging, old-time fiddling, singing, and po-etry reading.

While I am relaxing, youngsters are doing what they enjoy most getting dirty slog-ging through the messiest en-durance race on record, aptly named Mud Mania. Other self-explanatory events especially For kids include a pie-throwing contest, egg toss, and threelegged race.

Being a mountain woman, I enjoy the lumberjack events most of all. A celebration of nearly lost skills, the events can't help but impress those who have never witnessed the art of felling trees. Both men and women compete in the chain-saw speed cut and ax throw. Here is a chance for flatlanders to see real loggers showing off real-life skills like choke-setting. That's a competition in which a contestant runs up a suspended log, hooks the choker from the bottom, pulls it tight, then runs back past the scratchline. If the contestant falls off the log, he is disqualified. In a real logging operation in the woods, he could be dead.

The day that started with a 7 A.M. pancake breakfast in the park is ending with a star performance at the Round Valley Dome. Every year a country and western band or singer rounds out the thoroughly country and western day. This year's concert features Nashville singer-fiddler Clinton Gregory. After the show, the floor will be cleared for a country dance featuring the C&W sounds of the Canyon State Band.

Eagar may be a long way from metropolitan Phoenix or Tucson, but, as the old boy says, "When you're there, you're there."

WHEN YOU GO

This year's Eagar Daze celebration will be Friday and Saturday, August 4-5. Eagar is 225 miles northeast of Phoenix on U.S. Route 191. You can stay at one of seven local motels, two bed and breakfasts, or resorts in nearby St. Johns, Greer, or Alpine. Take time for the Casa Malpais Museum and tours of the prehistoric site; The Little House Museum at South Fork Ranch; camping, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, or exploring back roads in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. For more about Eagar Daze, call High Country Destinations, (520) 537-1074.